This invention relates to vehicle bumper systems, and more particularly to provisions of bumper systems for reducing the damage to vehicles from collision force imparted to a bumper when the vehicle is involved in a collision.
Vehicles such as automobiles, trucks, buses, and motor homes typically include a bumper at the front and rear, having a shock absorption system disposed between the bumper and the vehicle chassis.
In a collision involving a major impact to a vehicle, the bumper is designed to reduce the impact forces to protect the vehicle driver. However, common vehicle bumper designs seek to dissipate high impact forces through the compression of a damper and transmission of remaining force to the vehicle frame. Such systems generally have very high static damping coefficients and therefore are limited to dissipating higher speed collision forces.
A current concern among auto consumers and insurers alike is potential cosmetic damage caused by very low speed collisions. Many vehicles now use a molded panel as part of an integrated bumper assembly. Such bumpers are designed to absorb high-speed impact forces and generally are too stiff to dissipate the force from a low speed collision on the order of approximately 5 miles per hour. Resultant reaction forces reflected back from a damper may cause cosmetic damage to the bumper panels that obviate panel replacement. Changing the plasticity of an integrated bumper panel may help reduce cracking or breakage somewhat, but does not fully address the stiffness of the damper. It would be desirable, therefore, to provide a vehicle bumper damper system that overcomes these and other disadvantages.
The present invention is directed to a system and method for an improved vehicle bumper system. The bumper system has improved collision damping properties. During a collision or immediately preceding a collision a vehicle bumper damper is adjusted using a damper controller mechanism that responds to real-time collision information.
In accordance with the invention, a method and system is directed to active control of a vehicle bumper damper. Means for sensing collision data in real time and means configuring the vehicle bumper damper based on the sensed data are also provided.
In accordance with another aspect of the invention, a vehicle including an active control system for a vehicle bumper is provided. The vehicle includes a collision data acquisition device, a damper controller coupled to the collision data acquisition device, and an active damper coupled to the damper controller. The damper controller receives data from the collision data acquisition device and sends a control signal to configure the active damper based on the received data.
The foregoing and other features and advantages of our invention are apparent from the following detailed description of exemplary embodiments, read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. The detailed description and drawings are merely illustrative of the invention rather than limiting, the scope of the invention being defined by the appended claims and equivalents thereof.